OKC Thunder: Media award ballots reward Chris Paul resurgent season
The OKC Thunder benefited from Chris Paul’s resurgent season and the media were among those who cited his performance via their award ballots.
A season before Chris Paul came to the OKC Thunder he was embroiled in yet another Rockets versus Warriors playoff series. The most notable takeaway from Houston’s exit however wasn’t that they lost but that Paul and James Harden weren’t necessarily seeing eye to eye.
The pair were spotted arguing during a timeout in their last game together. And, while all teams will go through arguments from time to time this interaction was telling. Harden appeared to not really care what CP3 was trying to talk to him about.
Fast forward to the period when the league is in the moratorium and free agents are re-signing or inking deals with new clubs. Shortly after Paul George was traded to the Clippers Paul had a conversation with Rockets G.M. Daryl Morey. It makes sense CP3 was curious about his stability with Houston given how the season ended. He likely also had an inkling friends James Harden and Russell Westbrook would desire to play together.
Morey assured Paul he would not be headed to Oklahoma City and days later that’s precisely what happened. That Houston added two draft picks and draft swaps to sweeten the deal speaks to how they viewed CP3. Clearly, Morey thought Paul was regressing and that his large contract would be difficult to move.
To Chris Paul’s credit he not only was professional, he made the best of his circumstances. In the end, it was one of his two favorite teams in his 15 professional season. That the final game of this campaign was against his former squad felt like an inevitability and but for one blocked shot would’ve had a different result.
OKC Thunder captain Chris Paul gets lots of love from national media
Moreover, what Paul accomplished in OKC garnered him recognition from his peers and the media. The latter resulted in his inclusion on an All-NBA second team where he received votes from 87 of the 100 votes. Although he didn’t make the cut for All-Defense he was cited by several media members.
Paul also got several votes from the media who considered his season MVP worthy. Twelve national pundits placed him on their MVP ballots with three ranking him third, one ranked him fourth and eight ranked him fifth.
Specifically, Greg Anthony (Turner), Tim Bontemps (ESPN), and Justin Termine (Sirius Radio) ranked him third while Mark Jones (ESPN) placed him fourth. The eight media members who ranked him fifth were: ESPN pundits Amin Elhassan, Dave McMenamin, Ramona Shelburne, and Michael Wilbon plus NBA.com writers Steve Aschburner and John Schuhmann as well as Frank Isola of Sirius Radio and Simone Sandri of La Gazzetta Dello Sport.
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Four of these media members also voted for CP3 to be on their All-Defensive team. Anthony voted Paul to his first-team (as did Antoni Daimiel of Movistar). Isola, Jones, and Wilbon all voted him to their second team. The other four media members who voted Paul to the second team were Marv Albert (Turner), Joe Crowley (Chicago Sun-Times), Dennis Scott (Turner), and Gary Washburn (Boston Globe).
To view all the media votes the official NBA site provides each of the individual award ballots here:
What happens with Paul this coming season is very much up in the air. Sam Presti has several options and isn’t under any pressure to move CP3 before next season. That said, Paul’s value may never be any higher.
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